


After Oblivion

by ishipthemsogoddamnhard



Series: Fests & Challenges [3]
Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: #ItsStillBeautiful Fest, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst with a Happy Ending, Biting, Blow Jobs, First Kiss, Hand Jobs, Hannibal Cre-Ate-ive, Kissing, M/M, Masturbation, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Spooning, Will has bad dreams and very bad dreams ;), because that's hilarious, it's still beautiful, laundry!Hannibal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-09
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-07 17:42:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7723756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ishipthemsogoddamnhard/pseuds/ishipthemsogoddamnhard
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Will and Hannibal are healing together, trying to find their way to each other, after the fall. Will takes a little longer to get there, and Hannibal let's him, but when he does the results are steamy.</p><p>My fic for the It's Still Beautiful anniversary fest by the lovely people at the Hannibal Cre-Ate-Ive</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Brewing

**Author's Note:**

> This is a little bit away from my usual sin, so be kind :)
> 
> Kudos and comments give me life <3

Will stood in the shower and let the almost scalding hot water beat down on him. He tipped his head into the stream then pushed the water back from his eyes and hair. His body was still stiff and sore from the fall, though his wounds were definitely on the mend, and he rolled his shoulders gingerly to loosen them. The pounding water on his back felt good but the dull, tight aches in his muscles were a lingering reminder of that night.

Will closed his eyes, clenching his jaw against the shiver that ran over his shoulders and down his arms in response to the memory. Will sighed and tried to relax.

_Do you ache for him?_

Bedelia's simple yet loaded question echoed unwelcome in his head, almost mocking his reaction. Will felt his chest tighten. That feeling he couldn't shake whenever he thought of Hannibal. Whenever he thought of that night.

Killing Dolarhyde was.....something he still couldn't find the words for. The highest and most free Will had felt in a long time. Years. As long as he could remember in fact. Taking him down, working together with Hannibal, had opened his eyes. It was forgiveness and catharsis and intimacy, all in one vicious and sensual dance…. Will exhaled hard. He really had wanted it. He enjoyed it. He couldn't deny even to himself, that he had been sincere when he said it was beautiful.

He was tormented, sickened, that he had needed that so badly. That it made him feel so alive. That he really was like this. _Like Hannibal_ , his mind prompted unhelpfully. He recalled with vivid clarity how that realisation had flooded his mind on the cliffs.

He closed his eyes and could still feel how it had felt to finally rest his cheek on Hannibal's chest, embrace him and embrace his nature all at once. Hannibal’s shirt had been cool from the sea air but the blood still warm. He remembered how peaceful it had been, just for a moment, as Hannibal nuzzled against his head....but he resigned himself. It was an untenable situation.

In the tiny passing of time it had taken Will to breathe in the smell of Hannibal, to feel that same tightening in his chest, and to exhale in all away, he had pulled them over the edge of the cliff. Pulled them to what he had been so sure would be oblivion. The end of all of this, for both of them.

Will opened his eyes, turned off the shower and stood for a second, his hand still on the dial. What came after oblivion was harder.

\------------

Hannibal heard the water in the shower stop and focused a little harder on the dinner he was cooking. Will's moods were hard to predict since they had emerged from the dark ocean that night. An event neither of them expected. One Hannibal was fairly certain Will hadn't wanted.

That night on the cliffs he had seen Will rise, like a crimson Phoenix from the ashes. The sight of him, blood-soaked and feral, had stirred in Hannibal desires and feelings that a combination of rejection and incarceration and the simple march of time had forced him to bury. It had been more than Hannibal had ever wished for. He feared it had been more than Will could take, and he had been exactly correct.

Hannibal knew what lay ahead of them - running for at least a time, cutting ties to their old lives and identities.... and only the company of the other. Nothing more. Will, it seemed, was going to need time to come to terms with this. Hannibal knew him well enough to know that, and was willing to give him that time and simply do what must be done. To find a way out. To feed them. To wait. To hope.

Nonetheless it was difficult for Hannibal to watch Will stumble from depression to rage to completely closed off. He wanted to comfort him, to protect him. To help him become what he so obviously needed to be. He had always tried to do that, however misguided his efforts may sometimes have been, and now the urge was stronger. This made it more important to resist than ever, for fear of losing him again. They were here, together, and Hannibal wouldn’t push him even further away by pressing for more.

The sound of a door opening and closing chased Hannibal out from the newly-built terrace overlooking the sea, in his memory palace. He noticed the sauce needed to be turned down and also that Will was there in the open plan kitchen/living area in just a towel. Hannibal swallowed and kept stirring. Will looked partly as if about to speak, partly as if expecting Hannibal to. Hannibal sensed today was more a sad Will day and decided to save him the effort.

"Dinner will be around half an hour, Will."

Will just nodded and glanced apprehensively at what was cooking. Will did this almost every meal time, despite the fact they had barely been out of each other's sight long enough for Hannibal to kill anyone. Not to mention the fact he wouldn't dream of putting Will in that situation again. Not before he was ready.

Hannibal reassured him, "I'm preparing the fish you caught today, and I'm sure you've worked up a hunger from your efforts" Hannibal looked up and met Will's eyes, as always seeing a million questions and even more answers. Neither of them were quite sure if what Hannibal said was one of his metaphors. They weren't back at that place of flirtatious back-and-forth yet anyway.

Hannibal knew when Will was down he was also the most likely to talk to him, to be honest. So he used these times to try to lure Will out of the hiding place inside his mind. He had managed it before once. And it had been only two weeks. Hannibal was all too aware how hard he was clinging on to these facts as Will started to wander off down the hall.

"Sounds good." Will said flatly as he went. Hannibal steeled himself, as he had gotten so good at in the institute, and started looking for serving dishes.

\--------------

Will sat sunk in an armchair holding his glass of whisky, cradling it close to his body like a child would a treasured toy. His eyes skimmed over the objects in the sitting room of the cabin they had been holed up in since the fall. It was a good 20-30 miles from the cliff house so nobody of any importance would be coming asking questions.

He wondered about the couple who owned this place. Hannibal claimed to know of them, the wife a patient - former patient - of his. He said they only come here in the dead of winter, so they wouldn't be bothering them now. Will didn't like to poke too much at this story, especially given that that last time Hannibal could have verified it was at least three years ago. Will could guess well enough what would happen if these unsuspecting people turned up at the door.

He took a large sip of his drink to distract himself from this. Hannibal watched Will as closely as if he might read his thoughts, if only he studied his face hard enough. Finding his features sullen and his emotions inscrutable Hannibal decided maybe the direct approach would force some kind of response.

"Would you consider this, as they say, third time lucky for us, Will?" He asked plainly.

Will's laughed humourlessly. "What are you talking about?" He said, not quite meeting Hannibal's intent gaze, that didn't fit his light tone.

Hannibal continued, as bold as ever. "The firelight on your face reminded me of the night we burned my notes together. When you and I were going to leave. With Abigail." He said, his voice and stare both softening over her name.

Will reflexively rested his hand on the scar on his stomach. "That plan didn't work out so well for anyone, did it?" He said, harsher than he had intended. He knew Hannibal didn't deserve this sniping, but he couldn't bring himself to amend it.

Hannibal finally lowered his eyes to his wine. Killing his Abigail was one of few things in this life he had ever really felt regret over.

"No I suppose it didn't, but after we escaped from Muskrat Farm I believed we had a second chance." He said, softly.

"Fucking teacups" Will muttered into his glass. Not wholly comfortable with this line of discussion. Not comfortable with all the regrets and emotions he liked to keep in a box marked "Hannibal" in his mind; or the chance they might break free. As they almost had before the fall.

"Indeed" Hannibal said unfazed. Will stared at him, before turning back to the fire, and they sat in silence for a short time. Hannibal gradually tensed for Will’s response.

"Third time must be about right then." Will said with an edge of sadness. It was as if he had finally decided which thought to voice and come up with something less than ideal. He downed the last of his drink and got up to head for his room. "Not sure about 'lucky'..." Will left the words in his wake. Hannibal sighed, staring unseeing into the flames of his memory in the now empty room.

\---------------

Will sat on the edge of his bed, and rested his head on his palms. It felt like every time he and Hannibal had spoken since they got here, Will ended up snapping at him or being difficult and then tormenting himself over the way he was acting. Things he wished he had and hadn't said. Tonight was no exception. He looked up from his hands when he heard a door. Logically he knew it wasn't his own, it wasn't loud enough. Hannibal had gone to bed then.

This made Will sigh. He took off his shirt and flopped backwards onto his bed. He didn't really know what he had been expecting, after all Hannibal wasn't the kind of person who would pester him to communicate, especially when he was acting like this. Will knew this all too well what with this nonsense going on ever since they were properly awake after their brush with death. Hannibal would just be out there, smug half smile and all, whenever - if ever - Will wanted to talk. Will just couldn’t seem to find his way to meet him.

So far Will hadn't been able to free himself of his conflicting thoughts. They held him prisoner in his room most evenings, preventing him from going back to the fireside, and talking to Hannibal like a rational adult. Or punching him in the face. Or throwing himself at him. The feeling in his gut that Hannibal gave him manifested in so many ways that he felt like doing, and not doing, all of these things in equal measures. So he did nothing. It wasn't helping. Now it was too late again tonight.

Restless, frustrated, Will raked a hand through his hair and threw it above his head. He sighed right to his toes and tried to imagine any of these scenarios in any real way. What would he say? 'Sorry for trying to kill us both and by the way, thanks for putting up with me for 3 weeks.'

Five years he thought darkly.

Will covered his face with both hands again and groaned into them. The sentiment was laughably too crass and not enough at the same time. So he just kept getting defensive. Not so defensive that punching Hannibal had actually happened. He didn't really have that in him now.

So that left option 3. Will dropped his hands to his torso, defeated. He couldn't say for certain when the idea starting forming, but ever since they had come so, so close to a kiss that night - and then death hadn't followed - it had been there. It was pushed aside as suddenly as it arrived. Will half wished he had found a way to do it then, so it could be attributed to adrenaline. Excused away and practically forgotten by all the heightened emotions of that night. So he didn’t have to deal with the concept of willingly, rationally kissing Hannibal Lecter.

Will often had the uneasy sense that Hannibal could read his mind, and although their embrace on the cliff had come just as much from him, Will wasn't sure he should let Hannibal get close enough that could see the ghosts of these musings in his eyes. This was, he supposed, a big part of why he had become so prickly. Deciding to wash his hands of today, Will got up, took off his jeans and crawled back into bed. He quickly fell into a passable sleep.

_A hand roaming down his body. Shivering with small, gentle bites nuzzled into his neck. Fingers wrapping firmly around his cock and jerking him roughly as lips found his, kissing him hungrily._

_"Hannibal..." He whispered against them._

Will woke flat on his belly, heart pounding and painfully erect against the bed. This was definitely new. He had never been one to have a lot of sex dreams, not so long as he could he remember, and definitely not about Hannibal. He needed rest and his mind, clouded with arousal and sleep, figured release might bring him just that.

Will rolled over and his hand was on his cock before the vision had even fully dissipated in the darkness. He closed his eyes and tried to think of anything but his dream. He very briefly thought of his sweet Molly but the pain hit like a truck. A woman he'd been with just before he met her....met her in Baltimore....Hannibal. He stroked his cock gently, trying to land somewhere safe. Alana....he did this so many times thinking of her but....Hannibal; even Margot.....undeniably stunning but.....Hannibal. Goddamn he was inescapable.

Will shook it off, thought about full lips wrapped around his dick, anyone's, and pumped his hand more firmly. He moaned softly, his body telling him he found the solution. He threw his head back into the pillow, the sweat soaking the back of his neck. He worked his hand faster, just couldn't find relief. His feverish mind turned those lips into Hannibal's and Will gasped, his traitorous gut clenching with pleasure in response. Those lips came to meet his, to bite his neck, his dream forming effortlessly around him. In his mind’s eye the hand on his cock was Hannibal's and he knew he was falling. Will came hard over his hand and his stomach, his body jerking as he cried out into the darkness.

In the bathroom next door, Hannibal's hands gripped the edges of the sink until his knuckles were white. Rooted to the spot despite himself, he bowed his head as he heard the unmistakable sound of his own name, groaned through Will’s gritted teeth.

\-----------

The next day dawned dark and ominous, a striking difference to the increasingly pleasant days they had been experiencing here. The air was heavy with the promise of a storm to come. Will awoke stressed already. Had he dreamed all of last night or just the first part? The memory made him shudder. He gazed out of the window at the threateningly low-hanging sky.

“Something has to give.” He said softly to himself as he turned away and headed for the bathroom.

Hannibal’s hand froze on the coffee maker when he heard Will’s door open. 

“Morning…..Hannibal” Will said cautiously, deciding maybe today he could try a tiny bit harder. Although watching the back of him, Will had the distinct impression Hannibal had decided the opposite. His name on Will’s lips drew a memory and a shudder all of it’s own. Grateful Will couldn’t see his face, he continued to work on breakfast in a very deliberate way.

“Good morning, Will, did you sleep well?” He asked from inside the fridge. Will sat down on one of the dining chairs slowly, not really sure what to make of the question. They never really asked each other this, but surely it was just a coincidence. Will furiously assured himself he was just hyper aware due to his own embarrassment, paranoid even; while the sensation that this just smacked of Hannibal’s bullshit itched at his skin.

“No worse than usual.” Will managed to reply as Hannibal set a jug in front of him. 

_After I came thinking about you_

Will couldn’t look up as he poured himself some juice. Hannibal could smell it on him, sweat and come and anxiety..... _and Will_ , and he had to walk away. After last night, he feared all his carefully arranged restraint might tear apart and he would take Will right there on the table. Will swallowed his juice in one.

“Looks like this might break tonight” Hannibal mused.

Will slammed his glass down a little too hard and whipped his head round in shock, but saw that Hannibal was looking out over the gathering clouds. Hannibal clasped his hands behind his back, “I think perhaps it needs to.” He said turning to look blandly at Will. Hannibal tried his hardest to keep the hope, the desperation, in his voice at bay.

Will wanted to go to him but he felt stuck to the chair with uncertainty. Words laden with meaning. With invitation? Or a simple observation about the weather. With Hannibal you never knew unless he wanted you to. Will sighed.

“Maybe it does…”

\-------------------

Hannibal had sent Will out to go get some supplies before the weather turned. They wouldn’t be staying here much longer but they were low on food and killing wasn’t feasible yet. Will almost ran out the door at the suggestion. Hannibal found this nigh on adorable as he cleaned the house. 

That is until he walked in to Will’s room. 

The scent of him was everywhere, like a haze, and the sight of his rumpled sheets made Hannibal choke on his amused smirk. He could see Will there now, writhing with the pleasure he had heard in his voice. Hannibal leaned back against the wall and thought about how often he had imagined Will writhing like that under him. His cock twitched when he recalled those sounds Will made and wondered what it would be like to hear them breathed in his ear….

“Oh man, it’s starting out there” Will grumbled as he came crashing through the front door. Hannibal flung himself away from the wall and tried to will his growing erection away as he ripped the sheets off the bed and threw them on the pile. He brought the basket into the kitchen and stuffed them into the machine, fiddling with the dials as Will unpacked grocery bags. The kitchen was growing dim from the murkiness outside, despite it being hours too early for nightfall. 

Will could see Hannibal was a little ruffled, and with Hannibal, a little ruffled was alarming. Will looked from his strained profile to his own pale blue bed linen, stuffed against the laundry machine window and his throat constricted.

“You didn’t have to do that” Will said, bristling as he thought of Hannibal’s keen nose.

“Will,” Hannibal started, leaning his hands on the worktop and dropping his head. He knew Will was ashamed but he so needed him not to be. The sound of the rain outside increased in volume, bouncing off the stone porch. Will watched Hannibal’s nearest hand gripping the counter edge and thought how he had dreamed of it gripping his hard dick. He tried to swallow.

“Well you do everything round here, and I’m not a child, I would have stripped my bed later….” Will rambled nervously. 

“Will!” Hannibal faced him, imploring him to shut up. His eyes were wild, undone somehow, and Will supposed it was plausible that it was only fear that swirled in his belly as he glanced up to meet them. 

He wasn’t ready for this. For any of this. His heart was thumping wetly in his ears and he thought about walking away when the flash of lightening bathed the whole cabin in white-blue light.

“I heard you. Last night” Hannibal said gently. Will’s hair was damp from the rain, cheeks flushed from the cold and the conversation. Hannibal unconsciously took a small step toward him.

“I-I don’t know what you mean.” Will lied, attempting a confused smile and just looking like a sacred rabbit deciding when to run.

“Will…please” Hannibal said. Silently begging him to stop hiding with a hand on his bicep. Will could feel the heat of it through his clothes and shivered as the lightening flashed again. Taking a shaking breath he looked up at Hannibal from under his long lashes, frowning. Frightened. Aroused. Hannibal’s dark eyes seemed to ignite with lust.

The thunder roared but the walls came down in silence.

There were no words anyway.

Only a fevered, passionate kiss. Neither one sure who initiated it as their lips found each other. Hannibal pressed Will back into the opposite counter. Hands clawing at clothing and tongues fighting for dominance. Will moaned into Hannibal’s mouth when he grabbed a fistful of his curls. He couldn’t fight it anymore. In a way he had been fighting it since the day the met. Hannibal reveled in the sound. More than he had ever dreamed it would be like to claim his beautiful boy. He felt Will’s whole body against his as he pressed close to him - soft and compliant in his arms for only the second time ever, in exquisite contrast to the angel of death he had watched him become.

The storm had finally broken.


	2. Clear Skies Ahead

Will couldn’t believe he had just kissed Hannibal. Or did Hannibal kiss him? Either way it didn’t matter now. He felt…unburdened. Soaked from the rain, he had decided to shut himself away and run himself a bath. As he lay there, his mind was warmed and soothed just as much as his body. There was a relief that could only be likened to doing something scary and then wondering what you had been so worried about.

But they were moving on. Literally. They had to focus on making the next trip without being caught. He didn’t have the time or frankly the inclination to examine how his skin had shivered into goose bumps where Hannibal grasped at him; how hard his heart had been pounding when he pulled away from those maddening lips; how he had searched for the words to ask for more and, feeling them lodge between his teeth, came up with nothing. Will sighed and sank further into the water.

Hannibal hadn’t even tried to stop him and Will was damned if was about to go chasing after him like a lovesick teenager. There was a chance this was another one of his “wind Will up and watch him go” experiments. Punishment for the fall even. Admittedly the erection Will had felt pressing into his hip didn’t feel like experimental conditions….Will laid his head back onto the edge of the tub. The man was infuriating.

 _Wasn’t he always…?_ Will actually laughed out loud at this thought, the short sound echoing from the bathroom tiles.

As abruptly as the weather had turned, it improved, and as the storm died, it seemed that so too did their spontaneous burst of passion. Hannibal assumed Will felt shoved in at the deep end before he quite knew what he wanted, so he had obligingly given him space, not wanting to ask too much of him too soon. Sure enough the next days were much brighter, just like Will. Hannibal figured the new found peace meant it was out of Will’s system now, the kiss was a release valve for the tension, one they had been forced to open in the heat of the moment. The air had cleared now, the breach between them healed. If that was all they were ever going to be then he would gladly live with that, knowing Will was with him, and cherish that memory forever.

Will however, hadn’t bargained for how quickly that pressure would once again weigh down on him. 

\----------------

 

The days grew lighter, in more ways than one, but the memory of the kiss dissipated with the clouds. Hannibal was a little more relaxed, safe in the knowledge that there was at least something there between the, but the need for him was growing not diminishing. The ghost of Will’s lips on his were keeping him awake at night. The flicker of hope for more sustained him – a state Hannibal had found himself in for what seemed like forever - as they prepared to shift their new little world.

To Hannibal, Will seemed content enough just being in his company more instead of brooding, which he took as a positive either way. In reality, Will was bogged down with inner turmoil once again, and trying to decide when and how to broach the issue. 

His heart pleaded with him, longing to tell Hannibal everything, to hold him and heal all the old hurt. His brain offered him unhelpful snippets of conversations they had had in the years before, where he knew now Hannibal was manipulating him. His eyes - with help from his groin - tormented him with the way Hannibal leaned too close to him when he needed something from a kitchen cupboard. The smell of him combining with the location to pull Will into flashbacks of the way Hannibal had pressed him against the wood and how shocked he had been at how much it turned him on.

Confess feelings, confront motives, ravish him. Decisions, decisions.

It was around 10 days before they left the cabin behind, heading south down the coast to one of Hannibal’s own safe houses. They packed what little they were taking in the car as the weak, white sun began to melt into the woods. The vehicle was one they had ‘acquired’ during their stay, having been delivered here initially by Chiyoh when they were so badly injured. Hannibal shut the door of the cabin and it clicked locked behind him for the last time as he turned to see Will gazing off down the valley. Hannibal was studying his form, pushing down the urge to go up and infringe on his personal space, when Will turned to him. Hannibal was caught off guard by his wistful little smile.

 

“It’s like a different place now.” Will said quietly and turned back to the view. He didn’t elaborate on how he meant this - a changed perspective now they were healed and leaving? Forever charred into his memory as the site of their first kiss? Or a simple seguing into Spring? Hannibal didn’t think that with at least a six hour drive ahead of them, now was the time to press the issue.

 

“It’s still beautiful” He said as he climbed into the driver’s seat. Will stared at the spot by the car where Hannibal’s words still hung. A deliberate echoing of what Will had said before pulling them over the cliff, it had made his heart swoop into his throat for a second. Will joined him in the car and they left as he tried not to think about how many times in the last few days he had experienced that feeling...

 

Will offered twice to share the driving but Hannibal refused, claiming he found it mildly soothing to drive at night. They talked a little, about nothing of consequence. Will eventually stopped responding, lulled by the steady passing of indiscriminate highways and Hannibal’s soothing tone. Hannibal looked over to see Will asleep curled into the door and hated himself for how broadly he smiled.

 

Hannibal didn’t know how it was possible that he - a man who had used and abandoned even those who offered themselves on a silver platter, without so much as a frown - had fallen so hard for a man he didn’t even know if he could have. Will tried to kill them both, and then kissed him, and then nothing. He never could entirely predict him and it didn’t look like that was about to change.

 

\-------------

 

Their first night in the new place was a little fraught, despite the warmer evening they now enjoyed. Will felt compelled to find a foothold, for both of them, by focusing on a plan.

“So….what now, Dr. Lecter?” Will had asked as they cleared up after dinner. Not sure if he had meant to sound so flirtatious under the current circumstances, and his line of questioning, but he ran with it anyway. Hannibal raised his eyebrows a fraction and decided to bite.

“What do you want, Will? I thought I’d let you decide,” He said without looking up from the sink. Hannibal had been thinking about this for a while, and was uncomfortably sure that wherever Will was happy, he would be to.

“Security I guess.” Will said as he leaned sideways against the fridge, drying a dish, “Plus the warmth is a nice change.”

Hannibal’s eyebrows twitched together unseen by Will, “You’re safe here, Will, I can assure you of that.” He considered whether they were discussing geography or psychology and his hands stilled, “I have no designs to kill us…Do you?”

Will looked deliberately at the plate in his hands as Hannibal turned to fix him with that indecipherable look. “No.” Will said after a long moment and set the dish down. Hannibal, apparently satisfied, simply resumed washing.

“Further south then, or back to Europe perhaps.” Hannibal suggested as Will gazed at him a little nonplussed. 

“Well a fresh start somewhere totally different does sound good” Will agreed.

Hannibal pulled his hands from the soapy water and took a step towards Will, to dry them on the loose end of the towel he was holding. He fixed his eyes on Will’s, “Things can be pleasantly hot there…even in Spring.” he added, smiling provocatively. Will thought about just grabbing his shirt right there but before the thought was fully formed, Hannibal had walked around him and away.

“Think about what you’d like, Will” he said on his way out the door.

\------------

Will woke with a jolt, panting. The images from the nightmare shapeless and undefined - nothing but black ocean and regret - but the fear solid and real. He kicked the covers off and tried to focus on the cool air reaching his skin. He had gone to bed somewhat earlier than perhaps he needed to and his body was fighting sleep. Plus he was too hot, accustomed to the cold climate he had been in so long. He thought about their final destination and decided that AC and a pool were a must.

Will made his way to the get some water, trying to be quiet upon seeing that Hannibal’s light was off. He stood in the dark kitchen and drank the full glass, trying to ground himself in the house as he always did after he dreamed about the cliffs, before refilling it to take back to bed. As he passed back along the corridor he was surprised to see light coming from under Hannibal’s door, he was sure it had been off before and that he hadn’t imagined it. 

Call it a subconscious human need to be close to others, especially feeling shaken as he was, but something steered Will up to Hannibal’s door. He heard pages rustling but he still didn’t want to go in, he felt like a kid and took a step away when he heard,

“Will?” Hannibal’s voice sounded just a little amused, “You can actually come in if you want to.”

Will took a breath and opened the door.

“Hi….sorry I was just…..” Will said, his hand still on the door.

“I couldn’t sleep either, Will, I was just giving up trying when I heard you wandering around.” Hannibal interrupted. Will came fully into the room and sat on the edge on the bed, still compelled to seek some comfort.

“Nightmares.” Will said with a huff. He picked at the embroidery on Hannibal’s bed cover, “The falling kind” he explained. Hannibal nodded in sad understanding.

“I’m afraid I’m familiar”

Will looked up at him, suddenly pained at the idea he had done this to Hannibal. To them. He searched Hannibal’s dark eyes for what felt like forever and opened his mouth to speak.

“I forgive you, Will” Hannibal said firmly.

Will stood to leave, “I don’t deserve that so easily” He said softly.

“You don’t have to go, Will” Hannibal said softly, his voice a little higher than Will was used to. He set his book down, “We both might benefit from a little comfort tonight”

Will wasn’t sure what was happening, but he knew they had to shake things up. New place, new start. Not to mention he didn’t feel like being alone…still his body was imperceptibly shaking as he lay down next to Hannibal. Hannibal turned out the light, leaving only the silver glow streaming through the flimsy curtains that were clearly for decoration only. He settled so close to Will that he could feel Hannibal’s breath on the back of his neck. His skin shivered just from that and he tried to tell himself to relax. Hannibal placed his hand lightly on Will’s hip and gently stroked his skin through his T shirt. Will realised quickly that relaxing was no longer an option.

Hannibal caught the almost inaudible hitch in Will’s steady breathing and curled his hand around, across Will’s stomach, to pull them closer together. Will felt Hannibal’s form curled against his and shifted into the contact. Hannibal let out an involuntary noise as Will’s lower back pressed into his slowly awakening cock. He shifted his hand down to Will’s thigh and ran it up his bare skin, catching over his boxers, while placing a soft, sucking kiss just under Will’s ear. Will rolled his head slightly, involuntarily it felt, to encourage more of the same and swallowed.

“I think I’ve decided what I want to do” Will said hoarsely, the darkness and his growing desire enveloping any residual insecurity.

“Oh? What?” Hannibal mumbled into Will’s neck between kisses, the smell of Will’s skin driving him to distraction.

Will twisted in Hannibal’s arms so they were facing each other, his blue eyes darkened with lust and moonlight.

“This…” Will breathed before claiming Hannibal’s mouth in a desperate kiss.

Their legs tangled into one another, skin finally brushing against skin as they kissed hungrily. Hannibal relented just long enough to help Will pull his T shirt off before they were both falling back into the kiss. Hannibal’s body heat soaked into Will’s exposed chest and he hummed at the sensation. They were both hard, having wanted for so long to be here, their cocks rubbing deliciously together through the two thin layers of fabric. Hannibal clasped his hand to the side of Will’s face as Will dug his fingers into Hannibal’s naked torso, making him groan low in his throat. 

Hannibal eased Will back into the bed, pushing one of his hands above his head. Will cried out as Hannibal bit down at his neck, before kissing and nipping his way downwards. Will pushed both his hands through his own hair as Hannibal simultaneously licked at his lower stomach and ran a hand over his still-clothed erection. Hannibal slid his fingers into the waist of Will’s boxers and pulled them off before grasping Will’s cock and stroking it slowly a few times while he kissed his way along Will’s inner thigh.

“Oh God….” Will groaned.

“Hannibal will do fine….maybe I’ll just have to make you forget everything but my name”

Will arched his back as Hannibal’s words hit him just as he took Will’s cock into his mouth. Hannibal sucked him as if his life depended on it. As if every moan or gasp of pleasure he could elicit from Will drowned out another piece of the past. His tongue and his hand helping him show Will that he really did forgive him, that things would be different now, that he was equally sorry.

Will clung to the sheets, dizzy as his body started to tense. His heart already pounded like it might burst when Hannibal took him all the way into his throat. Totally overwhelmed, Will clawed at Hannibal’s hair as he exploded, almost screaming, into his mouth. 

Will lay on the bed, not sure how he wasn’t so weightless he had risen off it, as Hannibal crawled slowly back up his body. Will shifted his angle so they were face to face on their sides once again and drew Hannibal close to him, kissing him slow and languid this time. 

Hannibal inhaled sharply as his painfully hard cock pressed into Will’s belly. Will reached somewhat tentatively between them to massage the bulge Hannibal’s underwear, feeling the wet spot where he was already leaking. He couldn’t believe he had this effect on the most controlled person he’d ever met.

“Take them off.” Will whispered.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah I want to”

And then they were both naked, meshed together, teeth dragging over lips. It felt so new and yet so natural….it was disarming.

Will took hold of Hannibal again and started to work his hand over his length, the feeling of hardness and silky skin in his hand familiar but then so alien. Hannibal buried his head into Will’s shoulder, so close to release just at the thought that Will was the one guiding him towards it. Hannibal lifted his head to catch Will in another, frantic kiss broken only as his orgasm hit him out of nowhere. Will was stunned as he felt Hannibal’s body jerk, hearing him stuttering affection and expletive, both known and foreign, into his ear.

When Hannibal had returned to the same plane of existence, Will’s hand was still on him. Hannibal didn’t want to break the bubble but he just had to be sure.

“So…may I ask what inspired this sudden decisive action?” Hannibal asked. His voice was different, Will could hear, but he couldn’t quite make out his expression in the dim light. If Will didn’t know better he would say Hannibal sounded almost insecure. Will thought about saying something light-hearted to make a joke of the situation but the true answer was making it’s way out unbidden. The words bubbling up from his very soul, years in their formation.

“I love you.” Will said, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Hannibal froze and then laughed, a short low chuckle Will wasn’t sure he had ever heard. He touched Will under his chin and tilted his head up to meet his lips in a chaste, tender kiss.

Hannibal could only answer truthfully, surprised as ever at Will's unexpected proclamation, and nothing if not honest to a fault, “I love you too. I think you know I always did....I also think you might have to let me go take a shower.” Hannibal said with a smile, extricating his limbs from Will’s and heading to the door.

“I think I might have to join you….it’s too hot here.” Will said getting up.

“You seemed like you wanted to be somewhere warm. Really there’s no pleasing you, William…” Hannibal teased from halfway up the hall.

Will raised his eyebrows, “Clearly that’s not true!” He called, and followed him out.

Spring had flourished, hopeful and delicate as ever….but with the promise of new beginnings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know where the extended weather nonsense came from but hey! I really hope you liked it, I may revisit this at some point down the line, if the inspiration hits.


End file.
